4Wheel Drive Hardware and Bestop, with the help of 4 Wheel Parts, are working together to build a Giveaway 4-door Jeep Wrangler and you get to chose what accessories are added to the stock Jeep before it goes to the lucky winner.
The way to vote is to log on to: www.4wdjeepgiveaway.com/ and vote for your favorite accessory. Each time you vote, you are automatically entered to win the Giveaway Jeep and you will have 10 chances to vote and enter (voting ends August 31, 2010) before the Jeep is awarded to the lucky winner (winner will be notified on September 15, 2010).
The first item voted on was the top. The Bestop Trektop was the winner and here we follow along as Big Jon Schneider and the crew at 4 Wheel Parts in Redondo Beach, California install the Trektop (with a little help from Jim Chick, the Director of Sales and Marketing at Bestop).
The Bestop Trektop replaces the stock hardtop and provides a lighter weight top that can be folded back allowing open top driving for the driver and front seat passenger as well as the rear seat passengers. In addition to being lighter than the stock hard top (lighter weight can lead to increased fuel economy), the Bestop Trektop provides a sporty look for the Jeep Wrangler as well.
As you will see, installing a Bestop Trektop is relatively easy and Bestop makes it even easier by using the stock mounting points when possible so there is no drilling necessary.
First Big Jon read the thorough instructions and placed the top in the sun to get it warm. The instructions say the weather (and the top) should be at 72 degrees F or more for the proper installation. It is normal for the top material to wrinkle in the shipping container but once the top is installed the fabric will “relax” and the wrinkles, they say, will disappear.
 1. The first step is to remove the stock top assembly. The front portion comes off easily. There are two hand-tightened screws to remove before the front portions can be removed. |
 2. Next, disconnect the stock wiring harness and tuck it under the carpet for safe keeping. The stock wiring harness connection is on the left when the stock rear liftgate is open. |
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  3a&b. The rear portion of the top comes off in one piece, including the liftgate which is held up with a gas-filled rod. There are bolts in the front and three Torx head screws on each side are used to hold the stock top in place. The stock front holes will be used to secure the Bestop header and window surrounds. Save all these fasteners, should you wish to reinstall the stock roof someday. Set the stock top down carefully so you do not damage the bottom seal. |
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  4a&b. With the stock top removed, it’s time to install the rear and front window headers. Bestop designs these to use the original fasteners. Once they are installed, close the doors carefully to check for proper fit. |
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  5a&b. Now, install the Bestop windshield header in place. Have a friend assist you and drape the new Bestop Trektop over the rear end, the center and to the front of the Jeep. You did leave the top in the sun so it can be stretched, right? Jim Chick, (left) is Director of Sales and Marketing at Bestop and he advised us to leave the top in the sun before we attempted the install. He is shown here assisting Schneider with this installation. |
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 6. The side-to-side strap keeps the front area of the top tight. The top is also secured to the window surround bars. |
This Giveaway Jeep just went from stock to sporty, lighter and more flexible with the installation of the Bestop Trektop. Remember, as Mayor Daly used to say in Chicago, “Vote early and vote often.” That’s good advice when it comes to the 4Wheel Drive/Bestop Giveaway Jeep. |
  7a&b. At the rear, the top folds around the rear door window surround bars and the plastic clips secure the rear of the top. But before you secure the rear, use the rod and zippers to install the rear plastic tinted window in place. Now the Trektop can be secured in place. |
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Jeep Doors Install
 Here is the Giveaway Jeep with the stock doors in place. |
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There are two old sayings among off-roaders. Real men don’t eat quiche and “Real Jeeps” don’t have traditional automotive doors. If a “real Jeep” does have doors, they are half doors or cloth doors and the windows zip down, they don’t roll down. If you want to give the passengers in your new Jeep Wrangler a “real Jeep” feeling then 4Wheel Drive Hardware, Bestop and 4 Wheel Parts can help you with Jeep doors, three ways. You can install steel tube frame doors, you can add a steel outer panel for extra security and still offer passengers the Jeep experience of zip-down/zip-up windows or you can simply install lightweight cloth doors with zip-down/zip-up windows. Whatever door treatment you select or whatever door treatment you vote for at www.4WDJeepGiveaway.com, Bestop offers the fit and style you want to make your Jeep a real Jeep. Since we don’t know how you will vote or how the vote will end up (at the time this was written), we installed both sets of doors on the Giveaway Jeep. Here again Jon Schnieder and the crew from 4 Wheel Parts are joined by Jim Chick to install the Bestop doors on the Giveaway Jeep Wrangler. First we start with the steel tube frame doors, then add the steel panels. Then we install a set of cloth doors front and rear. Removing the stock doors is the same for both types of door installations. Whether the bottoms of the two-piece doors are steel or cloth, the tops of the two-piece doors are cloth with zip up/zip down windows. They are held in place by three pins (just like the stock Jeep design for cloth doors) and once the doors are closed, they are secure. So with the installation of Bestop two-piece doors you can give your Jeep four-door the look and feel of a traditional Jeep.
 1. Step one is to remove the Torx hinge pin bolts from the stock doors. |
 2. Now unplug the electric harness and remove the footman loop. This allows the stock doors to be opened fully and then simply lifted out of the hinges and placed to the side. Store the stock doors in a safe place, as you may want to reinstall them again someday. |
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 3. The Bestop doors come complete with latches and locks, and they must be installed in the new doors before they are mounted on the vehicle. |
 4. Bestop provides a way to mount either the stock mirrors or CJ-style mirrors. The stock mirrors can be transferred from the stock doors to the new steel frame doors as Bestop provides an adapter that uses the stock mounting bolts and provides a three-bolt frame for aftermarket CJ-type mirrors. It’s up to the individual owner as to which mirrors they want to use. |
 5. Bestop also makes available a steel outer enclosure panel for the steel frame doors. The outer panel is held in place by clips that go over the steel frame and by the mirror. The Bestop-supplied door locks are designed to be used with either just the steel frame or with the steel frame and outer panel. The outer panel cover with a powder coat finish can be left in black or be painted to match the Jeep’s exterior color. |
 6. For ultimate sportiness, Bestop can supply soft, CJ-like two-piece cloth doors for the four-door Jeep. The installation of these doors also starts by removing the hinge pins and removing the stock doors. Installation is really simple. The new door simply slips in place into the hinge receivers after the new door latch/lock is installed. |
